On 25 April, the Court session in the case of Mamikon Aslanyan, head of the Vanadzor community, continued in the Anti-Corruption Criminal Court. Presiding Judge Sargis Dadoyan.
Notably, Mamikon Aslanyan is accused of expropriating Vanadzor lands by making false documents during his tenure. According to the indictment, Suren Abovyan helped Vanadzor Community Head Mamikon Aslanyan, who is an official, to exceed the official powers and commit official forgery.
According to Iravaban.net, the defense side presented a motion to change the order of measure of restraint against Mamikon Aslanyan.
Lawyer Artak Voskanyan stated that all the written evidence in this case has been examined, all the witnesses mentioned in the indictment and the basis of the accusations have been interrogated, that is, in the conditions of the completion of the interrogation of the witnesses, the grounds for keeping Mamikon Aslanyan in custody have become irrelevant.
“Taking into account the fact that there is no longer the circumstance of exerting illegal influence on the witnesses in the case, due to the absence of such witnesses, I am petitioning to cancel the order of measure of restraint applied to Mamikon Aslanyan, the arrest, and to choose a measure of restraint “signature not to leave”” the defender said.
It should also be noted that there were two other defendants in this case, against whom the same measure of restraint was initially chosen, and the defense previously petitioned for replacing the arrest by bail.
Based on all this, the lawyer mentioned that even the use of bail becomes meaningless, but if the Court makes such a decision, the possibility of choosing the use of bail as a measure of restraint will be made the subject of examination. The amount of bail: 2 million drams.
Defendant Mamikon Aslanyan stated during the discussion of the petition that he does not have a prejudice against the professional abilities of the Court and the prosecutor, but the decision should be unequivocal, the application of laws and the decisions that should be made issuing from the law should be made correctly and without hesitation.
“This is a case of such public resonance that I, being a candidate for the mayor elected by my fellow citizens, at any stage, starting with the preliminary investigation and ending with this stage, I can declare without any hesitation that I have not committed such an act in any period of my activity that would in any way cause me to be under arrest, or to embarrass, or to cause disappointment among my fellow citizens,” Aslanyan said.
The other participants of the defense side also joined the petition, recording the fact that the interrogation of the witnesses has been completed.
The behavior of the accused while in custody was also discussed. The defense emphasized that the person has been in prison for 2 years and 4 months and they have not received any report about the illegal behavior or any violations in the penitentiary institutions by the accused.
The public prosecutor expressed his position regarding the presented petition, saying that the legal question raised before the Court for the resolution of the petition was whether the grounds for detaining the defendant Mamikon Aslanyan decreased or whether new grounds for detention appeared during this period. Narek Movsisyan objected to the petition regarding the amendment of the measure of restraint.
According to the prosecutor’s assessment, the result of the examination of the mentioned evidence makes Mamikon Aslanyan’s conviction highly probable.
“At first glance, one may form an opinion that the grounds for applying detention to the defendant as a measure of restraint have disappeared, but I must draw the attention of the Court to the fact that the results of the evidence examined in Court provide a basis for the prosecution, that they make the defendant’s conviction highly probable. This indicates that the defendant, remaining at liberty, will avoid criminal liability and the imposed punishment, thus hindering the execution of the Court’s verdict,” the public prosecutor emphasized.
Addressing the public prosecutor, Mamikon Aslanyan said that during the stages of the trial, the latter was engaged in political hostage-taking towards him, because one of the inalienable human rights, life and freedom, is encroached with “Bolshevik cynicism”.
“I will not back down until we reach the end point of some political order,” Aslanyan said.
Public prosecutor Narek Movsisyan urged to show proper behavior, respect or at least take an example from the accuser on how to be respectful towards the participants of the trial. He asked the Court to apply sanctions.
The judge said that if the chairman decides that it is necessary to apply procedural sanctions against any of the parties, then they will be applied immediately.
The discussion of the petition is over, the Court decision will be published on 26. April
Details in the video.
Mariam Shahnazaryan
